Baseball And The Sultan Of Swat

"This book collects essays, recollections, and testimonials derived from a conference on the Bambino held at Hofstra University. Contributors range from sports writers to professors to lawyers to corporate CEOs - united here by the Babe's universal appeal. All aspects of Ruth's career are studied, from his rookie years as a pitcher to his glory days as the Yankees' home run king and including his time in the US, Cuba, South America, and Japan, where he took barnstorming tours with teams of top players. Off the diamond, Ruth's zest for living created its own legends. A symbol of boyish exuberance, he typified the Roaring Twenties and not a few of our own daydreams."--BOOK JACKET.

A biography of baseball's most famous player of all time describes the reasons for his immense popularity.

A biography of Babe Ruth who won fame as the greatest slugger in baseball history.

Traces the careers of Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio, and Mickey Mantle from a perspective of their love of the game and their significant contributions to Yankee history and tradition.

A brief biography of Babe Ruth.

First serialized in 1920, the Sultan of Swat's breezy account of his early life is rich with recollections of his childhood, his transition from pitcher to outfielder, and the blockbuster trade that sent him from the Red Sox to the Yankees. This original edition features new notes and photographs plus an Introduction by sports historian Paul Dickson.

The anticipation of another showdown with the Bambino transformed Wrigley Field. Temporary bleachers held the overflow of the 50,000-strong crowd that bright September day. Game 3 of the 1932 World Series between the Cubs and Yankees stood locked at 4-4. An angry mob, rocking the ballpark with pent-up fury, aimed itself squarely at him. He had never experienced anything like it. But above the almost deafening noise, the slugger could hear the tide of barbs pouring at him from the Cubs’ dugout. They called him a busher, a fat slob, and other names not fit to print at the time. He took the first pitch for a strike, stepped out of the box, and collected himself. Cubs pitcher Charlie Root threw two balls, and Ruth watched a fastball cut the corner to set the count at 2 and 2. On the on-deck circle, Lou Gehrig heard Ruth call out to Root: “I’m going to knock the next one down your goddamn throat.” Ruth took a deep breath, raised his arm, and held out two fingers toward centerfield. As Root wound up, the crowd roared in expectation. It was a change-up curve, low and away, but it came in flat and without bite. The ball compressed on impact with Ruth’s bat and began its long journey into history, whizzing past the centerfield flag pole. No one had ever gone that far at Wrigley—not even Cubs hitter Hack Wilson. Estimates put its distance at nearly 500 feet. Ruth practically sprinted around the bases. Video cameras of the day raced to catch up with him, his teammates cracking that they hadn’t seen him run that fast in a long time. Then he flashed four fingers at the Cubs infielders and their dugout: The series was going to be over in four games. In that moment, the legend of the Called Shot was born, but the debate over what Ruth had actually done on the afternoon of October 1, 1932, had just begun.

*Includes pictures *Includes a bibliography for further reading "I only have one superstition: I make sure to touch all the bases when I hit a home run." - Babe Ruth As one of America's oldest and most beloved sports, baseball has long been touted as the national pastime, but of all the millions of people who have played it over the last few centuries, the first name that many associate with Major League Baseball is Babe Ruth, whose career spanned over 20 years on the way to becoming the sport's biggest legend. The Bambino came onto the scene as a pitcher for the Boston Red Sox, only to be infamously sold to the rival New York Yankees, where he went on to set records for most home runs (714), runs batted in (2,213), walks (2,062), slugging percentage (.690), and on-base plus slugging (1.164). The Sultan of Swat's records would take decades to be surpassed, but he also managed to win more than 20 games as a pitcher for Boston, along with three World Series before heading to New York. Boston wouldn't win another championship for over 80 years after Ruth's departure, a drought famously referred to as "The Curse of the Bambino." As if he wasn't accomplished enough in Boston, Ruth went on to become a pop culture fixture in New York while playing 15 years for the Yankees on some of the sport's most legendary teams. In addition to leading the Bronx Bombers to four World Series during his time there, Ruth set several single season and career records, elevating the team and MLB itself in ways that athletes could hardly dream of today. Ruth's impact could be keenly felt in a 1922 article authored by Heywood Broun, "Cutting the Heart of the Plate," which said of him, "No one ever requires more than one glance to identify Babe Ruth. Even a wholly ignorant person who had never heard of him would probably stop in wonder at the sight of Babe waddling by. It must be clear to all beholders that here is some great, primitive force harking back to the dim days of the race. William Jennings Bryan might well look upon the Babe and recant. To be sure, a certain ingenuity was required to fit just the proper name upon this personality. As George Herman Ruth he might have gone far but he could hardly have reached the heights. The man who made him by the gift of 'Babe' ought to draw a substantial royalty from Ruth's mighty income. But probably no single individual hit upon the happy thought. Undoubtably a mass movement was required. Babe Ruth has all the vigor and vitality of a piece of folk literature." Over a century after his MLB debut, Ruth remains as well known as ever, and people continue to discuss his exploits both on and off the field. Ruth used to wink at his reputation, joking, "I learned early to drink beer, wine and whiskey. And I think I was about 5 when I first chewed tobacco." Biographer Leigh Montville described a typical scene after a game: "The outrageous life fascinated [pitcher Waite] Hoyt, the...freedom of it, the nonstop, pell-mell charge into excess. How did a man drink so much and never get drunk? ... The puzzle of Babe Ruth never was dull, no matter how many times Hoyt picked up the pieces and stared at them. After games he would follow the crowd to the Babe's suite. No matter what the town, the beer would be iced and the bottles would fill the bathtub." Given the passage of time, people tend to debate how good Ruth would be today, including most recently a current MLB reliever, Adam Ottavino, who claimed he would strike out Ruth every time. That claim became even more controversial when Ottavino joined none other than the Yankees ahead of the 2019 season, which led to the reliever walking back some of the comments. But even as far back as 1929, Bucky Harris may have foreseen debates of this kind by pointing out, "These other home run hitters are neck and neck. When the Babe was doing his stuff, he was miles ahead of his field."